Los Angeles City Council meeting canceled for Friday

Acting Los Angeles City Council President Mitch O'Farrell called on fellow councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León to resign from their seats and said the Council will not hold a meeting until they do.

Both councilmen were involved in a racially-charged conversation with Council President Nury Martinez in Oct. 2021. Audio of that convo was leaked to the public, resulting in immense fallout over recent days. 

"We cannot heal until Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo also resign from the City Council," O'Farrell said on Thursday. Martinez previously resigned Wednesday morning.

O'Farrell officially canceled Friday's scheduled LA City Council meeting at the beginning of the press conference.

"The people's business cannot be conducted until we have these two resignations," O'Farrell said. "What our jobs are is to put our personal feelings and our personal ambitions and our egos to the side as elected officials and do what's best for the city."

This comes four days after a secret recording of former Councilmember and City Council President Nury Martinez using racially charged language about Councilmember Mike Bonin's son was leaked to the public. 

Since then, Martinez stepped down as the City Council President and resigned from being a Councilmember. 

Both Cedillo and de León were a part of the conversation with Martinez when the audio of her using racial language was recorded. 

As a result of Martinez's racist comments and her stepping down, O'Farrell declared that the City's Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) will take over as the Caretaker for the Sixth Council District, which was formerly represented by Martinez. 

The City Council attempted to hold a meeting on Tuesday, but it was eventually postponed by O'Farrell due to a loud and enraged crowd of protestors.